It turns out that Mexico City pulled through in the last innings with so many redeeming qualities that my final impressions in the last country on this four month journey brought tears of joy, not frustration. Not that the men were any less aggressive here (actually, I apparently just missed a free Santana concert in the main square the prior night, where a guy from my hostel was shoved away from the two Aussie girls he was accompanying while the men circled around the girls and started trying to take their clothes off them), it was just generally easier to dodge [View Full Entry]

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"All that glitters isn't gold." My days in Oaxaca, a city whose colonial architecture, art-filled parks, floral courtyards, lively plazas, colorful shopfronts, extraordinary cathedrals, historical artifacts, and purely delicious cuisine beckon you to explore its wonders, have proven one of the key truths in travel: it is the people where you travel that make or break the experience. For no matter how fascinatingly gorgeous or culturally rich a place is, it will never win first prize in your list of travel greats if you feel you have been swindled, attacked, or otherwise mistre [View Full Entry]

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Like two knights dueling for the hand of a fair maiden, so has Sir Mexico risen to battle for the affection I so recently declared for Guatemala. From the first real encounter with Mexico, at the bus station in Tapachula, I should have realized I had just entered completely different territory, as the terminal was clean, orderly, computerized, efficient, and had toilet paper and soap in the bathrooms. However, after surviving a nail-biting journey to get there .... fights breaking out on the bus to Tecun Uman, warnings about the danger of crossing the border at that hour, missing the last [View Full Entry]

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Mmmm...Guatemala. At this moment I feel that I might be beginning to have a love affair with this country. "Third time´s a charm," right? Even though I am blasting through here at lightning speed and visiting cities I´ve already seen, I am totally captivated. Not that Guatemala is an idyllic paradise...its flaws are perhaps even more glaring because of the extreme beauty that it contrasts...but it is impossible not to be won over by this country. Both Antigua and Xela are colonial cities with all the European charm of cobblestoned streets, Baroque facades, lively plazas, and flowering gardens [View Full Entry]

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In travel, as in art, as in life, it is the small details that etch themselves into your heart and mind. The simple things are the ones that create a smile that radiates from inside all the way to my uplifted face that is staring at the sky thanking the heavens for dear sweet life. That is the feeling of Antigua. I swear I woke up with a smile on my face this morning, completely fascinated by the warmth of my blanket and the quiet of the dawn. The crisp cool air was a sensation I haven't experienced in a while, [View Full Entry]

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Ahhh...back to life on a tropical island. I guess that all island life is fairly similar, for I am reminded a lot of my semester in Malta as the laziness of island life takes over my body and I find myself lamenting the "long" walk of 13 minutes from my house to the dive shop. Speaking of which....yeah! i did my open water course! I wasn't exactly prepared for the barrage of studying and hurried pace I was expected to move at my first day on the island. I got reeled into the first dive shop I checked out, Cross Creek, [View Full Entry]

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Alas, I can catch up on my travelblogging...I had actually reverted to the old paper and pen method for awhile since I have been out of cyberland. My trip to Trujillo was much more than I was ever expecting. It started off quite crummily, as the bus driver lied to me when I asked if it was a direct bus, and I spent 4 and a half hours on a chicken bus with a connection in Tocoa to get to Trujillo....a trip which, on a direct bus, only takes 2 hours. However, I tried to look at the bright side of [View Full Entry]

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My fourth night in Honduras and I am STILL sick. I had originally planned on going right to the Bay Islands to take my PADI diving course, but since I have been coughing and congested I thought I would rest on the coast a couple days prior to leaving for Utila. However, I seem more congested now than ever --- a big no no for diving, I am told --- so I am off to Trujillo tomorrow for a couple days of lazing on the beaches. I know, Ì'm sure that all of you stuck in the throes of midwestern winters [View Full Entry]

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Ahhh, Granada. Two weeks here and I feel like I have been here a lifetime. Walking down the streets I run into familiar faces and stop to chat about the day's events, en route to my favorite cafe for a slice of carrot cake and people watching on the Parque Central. It's amazing how quickly you can feel settled into a place. I can scarcely believe it was already two weeks ago that I landed back in Granada. From the moment the four of us who were traveling together got off the bus, I knew I would be here much longer [View Full Entry]

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So I am still a bit behind on my journal entering here because I have been very busy without really doing much here in Granada. Doing a month's worth of errands in the space of 5 days makes for some pretty uninteresting blogging. After we left Santo Domingo on the Isla de Ometepe, we headed to the Volcan Maderas side of the island for a brief stay in Hacienda Merida. Within 30 minutes of being there I wished I had 2 weeks to devote to this place and was somewhat kicking myself for having stayed in Santo Domingo so long. The [View Full Entry]

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